


The Holy Grail

by Hachimaru



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 13:36:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16493564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hachimaru/pseuds/Hachimaru
Summary: Thea and her wolf-dog, Mads, have been surviving the past few years together just fine by themselves. What will they do when a handsome, wounded man runs to them for help?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fiction I've posted in a LONG time. I guess I'm using this as NaNoWriMo practice, though I'm not sure if the fic will last the whole month... when I imagined it in my head, it was a super long story but I'm not sure if I can give it justice in the written form. That being said, I hope you enjoy where this is going to go! I have the entire story planned out already, so the main issue will be actually writing it down. I think I got this, though... Thea has been my baby for a long time, and it's nice to finally give her and Mads a voice. <3
> 
> I will add tags as I get to them.

  
_I have always been around_  
_But you never really noticed_  
_Cause I don't draw a lot of attention_  
_I'm a stranger in a crowd_  
_Blame it on the evolution_  
_Trying to find a way to say this_

 

  
Thea’s home was a quaint, two-story house with fading yellow paint that was situated in a cul-de-sac in what probably used to be a nice, quiet neighborhood at one point in time. She would have killed to own this type of property two years ago when everything was alive. There was a long-gone garden that she liked to imagine might have had the most beautiful hydrangeas; not the pink kind, but blue-purple bursts of color that she’d always wished she would have had the room to grow someday. Instead, the garden grew nothing and was full of long-dead hedge bushes and weeds that took over nearly all the way to the porch. There was a lot to mourn since the beginning of this apocalypse, but the lack of pretty flowers would always be a sore spot for Thea.

  
It was selfish, especially when she thought of all the people who had died in the two years since the start of everything but goddamn, a little color would make things so much more bearable. Everything was so dingy and dirty nowadays.

  
Thea was on her porch in the swing that faced the road, using her legs to slowly swing back and forth as much as she could without making the rusting chains creak. She gnawed on a well-used toothpick between her teeth and her arms were spread on the back of the swing carelessly. It was a sweltering, lazy day and she had absolutely no desire to move any more than she had to. She’d scavenged more than she thought she’d get her hands on the day before—a stroke of luck—and she had always been a procrastinator. When she ran out of food and water… well, that was a problem for Future Thea.

  
Present Thea just wanted to pretend to have a normal day for the first time in a long time. She’d been watching the road but let her head fall back to stare at the ceiling of the porch before letting her eyes close. If she really tried, she could believe the dead didn’t roam the Earth and she was still waiting to play with her band at the local coffee house in a few hours.

  
A soft whine drew her out of her brief reverie and she opened her eyes to look down at the source of the annoying noise; a greyish wolf-dog that had been following Thea for so long, she had finally admitted to owning the damned thing. Another mouth to feed at the end of the world.

  
She sighed when Mads nudged her knee and put a hefty paw on it, digging her claws into the soft flesh right above the kneecap. Thea put her hand on Mads’ head and gave the wolf-dog a scritch behind her ear, which seemed to somewhat please the beast. “We have to wait to eat, baby,” Thea said. “I don’t feel like going out again anytime soon, so we have to make it last.”

  
<You’re being selfish,> Mads said, her eyes judgmental.

  
Thea slit her eyes at the creature. “You’re a fucking wild animal. Go hunt.” This was a normal exchange between the two of them; Thea had started “hearing” Mads’ thoughts soon after the wolf-dog started following her around. She was sure she was being crazy and was just lonely, but sometimes she really didn’t know. Who’s to say people didn’t get weird powers when the dead started walking? She hadn’t been around enough people since the beginning to even ask what their names were, much less start a conversation on super powers versus schizophrenia.

  
Mads huffed and dragged her paw off Thea’s leg, the claws scraping down her skin. Thea hissed in pain and furiously rubbed her knee to try to stop the hurt. “Fucking bitch,” she said.

<You’re not a liar,> Mads said, walking to the top of the stairs to lie down.

  
They stayed like that for a while—Thea stewing and swinging, and Mads lying with her head in her paws while she looked out across the overgrown front yard. Thea’s head went back to staring at the ceiling and wasn’t paying attention to where Mads was looking, so when the wolf-dog began to let out a low growl, she snapped her head back up to stare.

  
<Something is coming,> Mads said. Her lips began to curl to show off her sharp canines and Thea saw her hair begin to bristle at the base of her neck.

  
The swing stopped, and Thea leaned forward far enough to lean her elbows on her knees. Her eyes scanned the cul-de-sac and waited to see what Mads could sense, her own muscles beginning to tense up and ready to launch her body up to defend herself or hide. Whatever was coming, Thea had no doubt they would be able to deal with it accordingly, as she and Mads had done since near the beginning of end of the world.

  
She was readying herself to see a dead man, or even an entire herd of them. So when a very much alive man in black burst through the back yard of the house diagonal from her own, she was slightly taken aback. Mads began to snarl loudly and Thea waved her hand at her. “Shut up,” she hissed, hoping the man wouldn’t see them before she could sneak into the house with the wolf-dog in tow. But he seemed to have the hearing of a goddamn bat because his head jerked from searching frantically behind him to stare at Thea dead in her hazel eyes.

  
Thea froze, her toothpick ungracefully falling out of her mouth; she was embarrassed that she even wondered if she was stuck in place because she thought that she was in danger or because he was ungodly handsome, even from this far away. His rough appearance seemed a little purposeful; the leather jacket and jeans form-fitting enough to show off his assets but roomy enough to allow him to move freely. The man and Thea stared each other down for what seemed like minutes when Mads snarled again.

  
<I don’t like him, Thea,> she said. Her voice was gravelly and mean. When Thea tore her eyes away from the man and glanced over to her, she saw that the wolf-dog had stood up and looked very intense. Her head was low, and her tail was tall. She looked to be very much a wild beast that absolutely should not be reckoned with.

  
When she turned her gaze back on the man, he was staring with wide eyes at Mads. He looked back at Thea and licked his lips nervously, like he wanted to say something, before his head turned to look behind him.

  
“Is he running from something, girl?” Thea whispered.

  
<Very likely. I don’t trust him.>

  
When the man started toward them again, it was with his hands up in a mock surrender and a pace that looked as slow as he was willing to go. He was definitely being chased by someone. Or something.

  
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, trying to be friendly. A huge grin was plastered on his unshaven face and Thea wondered if he really thought that would make her put her guard down; if anything, it made her reach for the knife strapped to her waist. He noticed the movement and stopped at the beginning of her yard, his gaze skipping between her and Mads nervously.

  
<Don’t trust him,> Mads repeated. She silently showed her teeth to the man. Thea finally stood and moved behind her wolf-dog slowly. A nervous sheen of sweat was starting to make her tank top stick to her skin and she felt a pulse of anger when she realized the man gave her a once over before smirking. He was smart enough to keep his mouth shut, though.

  
“Who are you, and what do you want?” Thea asked the man. Her voice was steady and stern, and she mentally pat herself on the back for that because she was beginning to feel unnerved.

  
The man licked his lips again and looked like he was thinking whether to answer truthfully but when they heard a yell in the far distance, he met her eyes and frowned. “I’m Negan,” he said. They stared each other down for a moment and he looked as though he wanted to say something else. When Thea failed to say anything in response to his name, his leg started to move forward and Mads growled again. He stopped moving.

  
“You answered one question,” Thea said. “Now what do you want here?” Her fingers grasped the knife handle at her waist and she moved to stand directly next to Mads, her leg touching the wolf-dog’s side to show solidarity with her partner.

  
<We will attack if he gives an insufficient answer. This one will not let us run and hide; we will have to find a new home.> Mads growled once more.

  
Thea glanced down and gave an affirmative noise, and the man named Negan furrowed his brow at her. She continued to glare at him. She knew she probably looked crazy as hell, but that was not her main concern at this point. Hell, maybe if he thought she was a bag of cats, he’d turn around and hightail it out of her neighborhood.

  
Negan swallowed before answering. “My group was caught in a cross-fire with another group who were trying to raid the same store we were. My men have either been killed or they scattered to the fucking winds,” he said, the last words almost spit out bitterly. He was trying to remain as calm as he could even though he still looked like his anger was threatening to boil over, Thea noticed. She wasn’t sure what to think about Negan. She heard another yell in the distance and noticed the man stiffen slightly as he looked into her eyes, awaiting her judgment.

  
“I take it those aren’t your friends,” Thea surmised.

  
“Far fucking from it,” he said, not bothering to hide the contempt in his voice.

  
Thea felt her grip on the knife loosen. Mads seemed to sense her change in demeanor and looked a little less ferocious. She still showed the man her teeth, but her tail lowered slightly, and her head was higher up. <How do we know he won’t hurt us?>

  
Thea took only a moment to think, since she knew the men who were hunting Negan down were getting closer with every second they stared at each other. She didn’t owe anyone anything in this new world, but she had never left anyone to die; this man looked at the end of his rope and when she scanned down his body, she noticed a red splotch of blood on his white shirt under his jacket. It had been hidden until he had started moving forward the last time and his jacket had opened a little more than it already was.

  
“How do I know you won’t hurt us?” Thea bit her lower lip as she repeated Mads’ question to the man.

  
“Darlin’, I give you my fuckin’ word. I know it isn’t much, but I swear to you that I’ll make it worth your while.” Thea furrowed her brow at the slight sexual undertone of the promise, but she couldn’t be sure he had meant it the way it came out. He looked her in the eyes and she felt that he was being earnest. Another yell came from behind the man, even closer this time.

  
“Come on, then,” Thea said. “But you’re going in first and you do exactly as I fucking say.” She took her knife out of the sheath and pointed it at him.

  
<Is that the right decision? How can you blindly trust someone like that? Are you that lonely?>

  
“Anything you want, darlin’,” the man said, oblivious to Mads’ harsh questioning. He smiled widely again, and the way his eyes began to glitter made Thea decide he had known exactly what idea he had implied earlier. Her frown deepened as she stepped aside and let Negan walk up to the stoop.

  
“Mads, back,” she said to the wolf-dog next to her as she pushed her back with her leg. Mads huffed and growled, but obeyed.

  
Negan hurried up the steps and onto the porch with Thea moving quickly behind him. “Hurry inside,” she said. “We need to hide.”

  
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he mumbled. He opened the door and Mads pushed past him in a show of dominance. Thea followed them inside. She closed the door as quietly as she could and moved her non-dominant hand behind her to lock it, her right hand still holding the knife to Negan’s back. He seemed nonplussed about it when he turned to give her a questioning look. She waved the knife toward the stairs.

  
“There’s a spot upstairs in one of the bedrooms that you can probably fit into,” she said. She didn’t miss the slight upturning of his lips. He didn’t say anything, though, and began the trek upstairs. “The door all the way at the end of the hallway,” Thea told him.

  
She followed him into the master bedroom and he stopped in the middle of the room to take a quick survey of his surroundings. It was as clean as it could get in the apocalypse and it was quite cozy; almost completely free of dust and grime. The bed in the middle of the back wall was a four-poster king with black curtains draping down the sides. Mads had jumped onto the bed as soon as the door had opened and laid down near the center, staring at Negan through cold dark eyes. <You are an idiot, girl.>

  
Negan turned to make a comment and Thea interrupted him before he could even begin. “Shut up and go to the closet. There’s a hidey hole there; it’ll be a tight fit, but I think you can manage.”

  
Negan looked a little more than grumpy at being shot down, but nodded and headed for the closet across the room. When he opened it, Thea pointed to the lower right hand side. “On the far, far right there’s a space for your fingers to open the wall. The people who built this place were pretty shifty, I think.”

  
As he reached to open the crawl space, he turned to look at her. “Thanks, doll.”

  
Thea’s nose wrinkled at the nickname and she frowned. “Just don’t get any blood on my stuff.” She turned quickly on her heel and clicked her tongue to call Mads, who jumped off the bed and followed her owner out the door and into the hallway. “I’ll come get you when the coast is clear,” she said without looking at him.

  
As Thea shut the door, she began to think about what to do next. She leaned against the wall, crossed her arms, and began to nibble on her lip. <You are a very, very stupid girl,> Mads said. Judgment laced every word.

  
“I can’t just leave him to die,” Thea said.

  
<Why not? You don’t even know him. What if he’s the instigator who started whatever shoot out that he says happened?> Thea eyed Mads and continued to chew her lip. <He could come out to kill you as soon as he hears you leave the hallway.>

  
Thea brought her hand up to her mouth and began to nibble on her index knuckle instead of her lip. What if Mads was right? She had been stupid enough to not properly pay attention to her surroundings just because she had been feeling lazy and now it was probably going to come back to bite her in the ass. She should have run inside to hide in the damn crawl space and let him fend for himself. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that that wasn’t right; even though she hadn’t seen enough people to feel good about the remaining populace in general didn’t mean that she had to purposely leave someone to die. That wasn’t her.

  
She would just have to ride this out and see where she landed; hopefully, it wasn’t going to be anywhere six feet under. “No,” Thea said to the wolf-dog. “I think I have to do this. I wouldn’t be able to sleep otherwise.”

  
Mads huffed. <We barely sleep, anyway.> She began to pad downstairs and Thea reluctantly followed her friend, throwing one last glace at the bedroom door behind her.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan was to write ~3k words a day, but I started binging The Haunting of Hill House and lost two days of writing time. Oops.

With Negan in the best hiding spot in the house upstairs, Thea had no idea what to do with herself and Mads. The wolf-dog was tall, lanky, and not a good bedmate even in the king-sized bed in her room; Thea couldn’t begin to imagine stuffing herself somewhere tight with the big galoot. She could probably get them under the kitchen sink if she tried hard enough but that spot would be found as soon as someone started throwing open doors and cabinets trying to find Negan, so there wasn’t much point in it.

She headed to the large window in the dining room that faced the yard and crouched beneath it. She used her gloveless fingers to make a slit in the vertical blinds and peek outside, eyeing where Negan had crashed through the backyard across the cul-de-sac. No sooner had she opened the blinds, she saw a couple of rough-looking people come through the backyard of the house next to the one where Negan had come from; a tall, scruffy man in jeans and a button up and a dark-skinned woman with long dreads. The woman had a long sword in her hands.

“Fucking aces,” Thea said beneath her breath. “That is so badass.” The couple were talking to each other, no doubt trying to decide their plan of action with so many houses that Negan could have hidden in.

<They’re probably going to start with the houses closest to the woods where they came from,> Mads said. She had followed Thea to the dining room and sat on her haunches beside her, nose poking between the blinds where Thea had them slit open. She huffed through her nostrils and the blinds swayed slightly.

“Maybe,” Thea said. She put her second hand over the blinds to slow the swinging that Mads had started. “But they could also start with the ones further back, towards us. If we were running from someone, we wouldn’t hide in the first place we came across. Too easy to be found.”

Mads let out an airy whine that could have been an agreement, trying to crane her head to look outside and causing the blinds to wave a little more. <Then we need to leave.>

“But what if they find him?” Thea eyed the couple warily as they separated and started up the stairs to the two houses next to where they had come from out of the woods. At least they were starting farther down.

<It’s not our prerogative to keep him safe. We gave him a hiding spot that they most likely won’t find him in,> Mads said, giving up on seeing out of the window and taking a step back. <There’s nowhere else in this house for us to safely hide in. Once they’re here, we have nowhere to go.>

Thea thought for a moment as she watched the couple before nodding, letting the blinds fall noisily back into place. “Okay, let’s go,” she said. She hated herself for turning tail to run and leaving a man behind but Mads was right. There was no point in saving a stranger and sacrificing themselves for his cause because she had nothing to do with these people—with any people—and she intended to keep it that way. They had been surviving just fine on their own together. There was absolutely no need to complicate anything by introducing more people into their little world, whether they were friend or foe. Once it was safe enough for Negan to leave, she would shove him out the door and hope that he never had the inclination to come back.

The two made their way quickly through the dining room and into the kitchen at the back of the house; it was decorated in bright blues and white and reminded Thea of the Dutch porcelain that her mom used to collect when she was younger. It may have been part of the reason that she chose this house in particular to stay in when she found the cul-de-sac. The king-sized poster bed was a big plus, too.

Once they made it to the back entryway, Thea did a quick survey of the backyard through the small window at the top of the door. She looked right, then left, and then right again; she opened the door and ushered Mads through. They tiptoed across the back porch as quietly as they could—the wood protested with every few steps that they took, and Thea swore to herself. She was down the steps and halfway across the yard before she heard the snap of a dry twig coming from her left.

<Thea!>

Mads immediately fell into a defensive stance and began to snarl relentlessly. Thea spun on her heel to face the sound, drawing her knife sloppily and nearly dropping it. In front of her was a dirty, long-haired man with a crossbow and he had it pointed right at her. “Fuck,” Thea said, her mouth a grim line. Mads made a step toward the man and before Thea could stop her, the man swore.

“Call off the damn dog,” he said. His brow was furrowed, and he let the crossbow waiver between Thea and the wolf-dog, trying to decide which was the greater threat. She noticed a bead of sweat run down the side of his face and she wanted to itch her own as she watched it fall. She moved her eyes back to his own and frowned.

“Don’t you dare shoot my fucking dog,” Thea said to the archer, who glared at her through blue-green eyes and raised the crossbow back to her head. His muscled arms were bare, and Thea noticed the way they looked like stone as he held up the weapon; he was so tense it looked as though he might explode given the right type of push.

“Call it off,” the man growled. “I ain’t gonna ask ya again.”

<Let him shoot. I’ll rip his throat out,> Mads said, a vicious growl bubbling out from deep within her barrel chest. Her lips were pulled back in a great snarl, showing off the pointed teeth that were dying to tear him apart.

“Mads, back,” Thea swept her leg in front of the beast and used it to hold her back when Mads tried to push forward and around. “Leave it.”

<Let me see him!> Another dangerous growl erupted from the wolf-dog.

“Who are you?” Thea asked a strange man for the second time today. This really was more human interaction than she was comfortable with; she hadn’t so much as seen a person in the past couple of months and now, suddenly, she was coming across more than a handful in the past twenty minutes. Her head started feeling light and she felt a keen ache begin to spread from the center of her chest. She wasn’t okay with this, not in the slightest.

“Where’s Negan?” the man asked, ignoring her question. This made the nervous ache in Thea’s chest start to mold a little more into a throb of anger, but she played the perfect part and feigned innocence.

“Who?” She felt her breath hitch, but she hoped that he would think it was a reaction of having a deadly weapon pointed in her face.

The man squinted at her, and Thea knew that he wouldn’t believe a word out of her mouth. He took a step forward and his words came out as a feral growl. “I ain’t playin’ games. Where is he?”

As soon as he made the move forward, Mads pushed past Thea’s leg. <Don’t come any closer!> Thea dropped her knife and fell to the ground beside it, wrapping her arms around Mads’ neck; the wolf-dog struggled, her jaws snapping as she lunged against Thea’s arms to get to the man.

“Leave it!” Thea commanded, to little success. She grunted when Mads swung her head around and hit her in the nose. The man stood as a statue and eyed the two warily, but never once lowered the crossbow. “Just leave us alone!” Thea yelled at him, angry tears beginning to spill over her lashes.

“Where’s Negan?” The man raised his voice over Thea’s and took another step forward, ignoring her tears and the wolf-dog’s attempts to get to him. She had slowed her advances only a little, but still looked ready to maul him; her muscles were bunched and coiled all around her, and she was struggling not to bite Thea in order to get the girl to release her.

<I’m going to kill him!>

“Mads, stop!” Thea pulled on the wolf-dog and ignored the pain when her rear leg stepped back and ran her claws down the inside Thea’s thigh. Mads was going to get herself shot and Thea was going to lose it if she lost her only friend. She clenched her jaw and glared at the man through wet eyes.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Thea saw the man from across the cul-de-sac run around the side of the house and point a pistol at the two on the ground. He was sinewy and had a head full of wavy, dark hair that hung in sweaty strings down his forehead. Thea looked at him and felt her face grow hot and the ache in her chest began to flower out throughout the rest of her body. She was hyperventilating now.

“Don’t,” she gasped. “Please don’t shoot her. I can make her stop.”

The second man seemed to hesitate, and his blue eyes flicked almost nervously between his partner and the nearly-wailing woman on the ground. After a moment of consideration, he returned his gun to the holster on his hip and raised his hands up by his chest, facing outward in surrender. “Okay,” he said quietly. “Okay. Daryl, put the bow down.”

Daryl gnawed on his lower lip for a moment before beginning to lower his weapon. He eyed the man beside him as if to ask him if he really thought this was a good idea. The small exchange wasn’t lost on Thea, who began crying in earnest now. She was relieved that the immediate danger had passed and her friend was safe.

<Thea?> Mads had calmed down slightly at the surrender of the men in front of them and when Thea started sobbing into the wolf-dog’s fur, she turned her head and worriedly began to lick away the tears. Her tail wagged furiously. <Thea, it’s okay. Stop that.> When the second man took a cautious step forward, Mads turned her head and began to growl again before swinging back to Thea to comfort her.

“Who are you?” the second man asked. Thea couldn’t answer, though, too busy crying gratefully into Mads’ fur. She had been too close to losing her, she thought. This day had gone from shit to worse so quickly; she should have sent Negan on his way and hidden in the hidey hole herself. She wasn’t made for standoffs at gunpoint, especially for a man she barely knew or trusted.

When he didn’t get an answer, the man sighed. “Look, I’m sorry we scared you. But we’re looking for someone and we need to know if you’ve seen him.”

“Haven’t seen anyone,” Thea mumbled, wiping her eyes with the heel of her palm. She sniffed. “I saw you come from the woods and I didn’t want any part of it.” She had been truly terrified of the men a moment ago but as soon as the danger had passed, she knew that she had to use the man’s hesitancy and seeming concern to her advantage. She could easily fool them into thinking she was still scared shitless because she very much was.

“Bullshit,” Daryl said. His fingers tensed around the crossbow, but it remained at his side as the second man had requested. “He had ta come through here. If she saw us, she had ta seen ‘im.”

Thea raised her gaze to meet Daryl’s and glared. Her anger began to get away with her and her own Southern accent started to shine through now that she was pissed. “I didn’t see no one but your friend and the woman,” she said. There was only a slight twang to her words and nowhere near as prominent as the archer’s, but it was enough for Thea to remind her of her less than stellar childhood and she normally kept it in check.

As soon as she mentioned her, the sword wielder stepped around the house where Thea figured she had been keeping an eye out. There was no way that she hadn’t heard the commotion she and Mads had made earlier.

“She could have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, Rick,” she said. Her voice was low and velvety. Thea immediately liked her, even though she stared hard at the girl and her wolf.

“Or she could be lyin’ and hidin’ the bastard,” Daryl growled.

Rick looked troubled and clenched his jaw. He looked from the dark-skinned woman to the one in front of him who was still holding onto the wolf-dog. He raised his fingers to the bridge of his nose and pinched. “What’s your name?”

Thea hesitated before answering. “Thea,” she said, nearly so low that he missed it. “Thea Kerrigan.”

Rick crouched down to get on their level, knees in the grass and hands on his thighs. “Thea, we’re looking for a man who we think came through here. I need to know if you saw anyone else besides us come through this neighborhood.”

“Ain’t no use in askin’ her again, man! She could be one of them!” Daryl yelled. The sword woman glared at him but said nothing.

“One of who?” Thea asked, her nose wrinkling. She was sure her eyes were sending daggers his way, but it didn’t seem to affect him when he met her gaze. Rick treating her like something delicate was part of her plan to get away from this situation with as little harm as possible; the archer’s rudeness toward her was not.

“Thea,” Rick said, ignoring Daryl. “Did you see anyone else come through here?”

Thea turned to look back at Rick. Her grip tightened on Mads’ scruff as she felt her face scrunch up in frustration. She was lying, but it still irritated her that they _thought_ she was. What if she’d been telling the truth? “No,” she fibbed. “I only saw you.”

“Why’re ya runnin’, then?” Daryl asked. He reminded Thea of a petulant child who was trying to argue until he was blue in order to get his way. She ignored him, taking a guess that would piss him off more than giving him the tongue lashing that he deserved.

When she ignored him, purposefully looking away, he muttered something beneath his breath that Thea didn’t hear but she could feel the nasty intention behind it. She tore her eyes away from her fingers working Mads’ coat around and opened her mouth to say something rude when the woman interrupted.

“Why were you running?” she asked, a little more harshly than she had spoken before, but not as accusing as Daryl. Thea stared at the archer for a moment, weighing the consequences of arguing with him, but turned to look at the woman instead.

“I don’t like dealing with other people,” she told her truthfully. She pointedly glanced at Daryl before looking back into the woman’s eyes. “Most of them turn out to be assholes.”

The woman held her gaze for only a moment before she must have seen what she was looking for and turned to face Rick, who was still crouched on the ground eyeing Thea and Mads. “We’re losing time. If he’s here, we have to keep looking.”

Rick took a deep breath and nodded slowly. “Yeah. We need to go.” He pushed himself up and dusted off his knees. “We’re going to go through the houses here and if we find that you’re lying, we’ll be coming back for you.” His once gentle demeanor had turned ice-cold almost instantaneously and Thea felt the chill in the air as it seeped into her skin.

“Michonne, let’s keep to the plan and just work out our way from here. Daryl, head into the woods out back and see what you can see.” He waited for the sword-wielder and the archer to start out before turning back to Thea and nodding. “Ma’am.”

They all disappeared around the front of the house and left Thea and her wolf-dog on the ground, feeling a little more than whiplashed.

<They left awful quick,> Mads finally spoke.

Thea swallowed thickly and felt her fingers dig into the wolf-dog’s scruff, as if to anchor herself. She thought of Rick’s sudden mood swing and his icy stare as he threatened her. “They’re probably definitely coming back.”


	3. Chapter 3

Thea sat on the grass next to Mads for a long moment, still more than a little shell-shocked over Rick’s complete one-eighty in temperament. She didn’t know what to do next: continue her trek into the back woods to hide in case they did find Negan, or stay and hope she could pretend to be innocent as long as they were around searching the area. Or, did she come clean and point them directly to the upstairs closet?

She’d be rid of one stranger and hopefully the three others looking for him would forgive her for lying when they asked her about his whereabouts. But, if Negan ever escaped from them or he had people that figured out what happened here today, she could kiss her sweet life in the suburbs goodbye.

It was a tough call—not the first one she’d had to make today—but she decided to stay and continue to feign innocence. She could think of all sorts of ways that running could bite her in the ass; in her mind, she could see all paths diverting from that timeline ending violently with either Rick finding her or Negan’s men finding her, or the loss of her home in the cul-de-sac which she had fought so hard to secure and maintain. If she stayed, she could ensure the best ending for her and Mads.

Thea took a moment to mentally steel herself by squeezing Mads’ scruff through her fingers and taking a few deep breaths before she hefted herself to her feet. She grunted with the effort it took; she was neither fat nor out of shape, but she was beginning to wear down from the stress from today. She could really use a glass of the cheap red wine she pilfered from two doors down when she first found the cul-de-sac. A bubble bath wouldn’t be half-bad, either, but she would have to make do with the wine.

She dusted off her pants, grabbed her knife from where it had fallen beside her in the grass, and headed around to the front porch again. She stomped up the steps as loudly as she could. Mads followed her quietly, only making a small groaning noise when she eyed Rick begin to follow them up the steps. Thea ignored him as long as she could, but when she sat down on the swing, she acknowledged the man with a sigh. “Yes?”

“I take it this is yours,” he said. His blue eyes swept across the front of the house before meeting hers again. The previous threatening demeanor had disappeared completely and was replaced with a hesitant politeness.

“You’re correct,” Thea answered. Her words were short and crisp, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. She had her fingers on the crown of Mads’ head, scratching lightly. Mads enjoyed the small attention and Thea used the touch as an anchor so she wouldn’t drown in the anxiety that was bubbling up in her chest.

Rick made a small noise of affirmation before placing his hands on his hips and cocking his head slightly as he looked at her. “We’re gonna need to look inside,” he said. He wasn’t asking permission, and Thea hated it.

“This is my home,” she said. “Just because it’s the end of the world, doesn’t mean you can barge inside someone’s _home_ whenever you damn well please just because you’re looking for someone—who I haven’t seen, by the way—and that person happened to run in my general direction.” Rick opened his mouth to say something, but Thea cut him off before he could utter a single syllable. “But go ahead. Invade my privacy.” She threw her hands up in exasperation.

Rick paused before awkwardly nodding and opening the door to walk inside. Thea felt hot tears of anger tingle her eyes and she furiously rubbed them away with her palm before they could fall. That familiar ache that had begun to blossom in her chest was spreading all the way throughout her body again. She felt stupid and scared and hated that she might be showing that to these people.

Once her tears were gone, she crossed her ankle over a knee and spread her arms behind her on the back of the swing. If she couldn’t feel indifferent, she could at least look like it. _Fake it ‘til you make it_.

She eyed the cul-de-sac as she began to swing back and forth gently as she had an hour ago before this whole mess had started. Mads was lying down, massive head in her paws, and making small noises when sword-wielder would exit a house and enter another one. When Daryl came back around their house, the wolf-dog lifted her head and groaned loudly. It wasn’t quite a growl, but it was a noise that nonetheless made the archer pause for only a moment before coming back around the porch to the steps.

<I don’t like him at all, Thea.>

“No arguments there,” she replied.

“Wha’dja say?” Daryl had begun up the steps and stopped midway, face screwing up slightly as he started hard at Thea and the wolf-dog.

“I said, you’re an asshole.” Thea felt fire in her veins and found it difficult to say everything that was on her mind.

“Yeah, well, tell me somethin’ I don’t know,” he said. He began to move the rest of the way up the steps when Mads began to growl in earnest at him now.

<Should I rip his face off?>

“Call off yer mutt,” the archer demanded. “I’m going inside.”

“Oh, are you? Your friend is probably just fine by himself tearing my house apart looking for some asshole I’ve never met,” Thea said, the fire in her veins turning into molten lava. She remained as casual as she could, still swinging back and forth.

“What’re you doin’ out here all alone, anyhow? Seems real fishy to me,” he said. He squinted at her again and she knew that he was studying her face for any tell of the lie she was propagating. It made her angry again that he just _assumed_ that she was lying; she was, of course, but he didn’t know her from Adam. What had made this group of people so distrustful of other human beings? Sure, she stayed away from people in general, but she wasn’t sure if living in such a way that made one mistrustful of everyone they met was any way to live. It must be hell on the psyche.

“I told you, I don’t like people. They mostly turn out to be assholes.” Thea paused, wondering if she should continue to goad him; she paused only for a moment—a blink of an eye—and she knew that there was just something about this redneck man that made her want to piss him off. “Today just proved it. I should let my _mutt_ rip your throat out and be done with you.”

Mads felt the stress build in the air and began to snarl again but stayed put next to Thea’s legs. <I’d very much like that.>

Daryl’s stare was deadly and he took another step forward. Mads stood, hackles raised. Thea had second thoughts about egging the situation on, but she maintained her heat and glared right back at the man in front of her; she leaned slightly forward, ready to spring into action if Mads pounced for him again. She had no doubt that he would kill her friend in order to protect himself—one didn’t really get to live this long in the apocalypse without taking a few lives in exchange for their own.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Rick said from the doorway. He stepped through the door and Mads stopped snarling, turning her head so she could look at both men without having to move but an inch or so in either direction. Thea leaned back again, as if she hadn’t been having homicidal tendencies and tried to look unaffected.

<I kind of like that one,> Mads said, her tail very lightly sweeping the porch behind her. <He seems like he’s smart.>

Without thinking, Thea hummed in agreement. She didn’t miss the archer’s questioning—slightly less angry—look. She instead turned to Rick. “And the verdict is?”

Rick sighed and looked toward the man in front of him. “He’s not here. We have to keep moving.”

Daryl spit on the ground beside him, right where Thea’s would-be hydrangeas would have been. Thea clenched her fists in her lap, but kept her mouth closed. “I think you need ta look harder,” he said.

“We don’t have time for this,” Rick said, stepping closer to the man and leaning in. Thea could barely hear him and tried to hear what was being said without looking like she was interested.

“I’m tellin’ ya to look again. I didn’t see no signs of him out back.”

“And I’m telling you that we’re wasting time here,” Then men seemed at odds with one another.

“The trail ends here,” Daryl said. The two men stared at each other for a moment before Rick sighed and lowered his head, hands on his hips again. He turned to Thea.

“You’re sure you didn’t see anyone run through here?”

Thea scrunched her face. “I told you,” she said in a condescending tone. “I didn’t see anyone. I saw your group and tried to hightail it before you even knew I was here.”

Rick searched her face and seemed to believe what he saw. Either she was a damn good liar, or he was a poor judge of character. Maybe a little of A, a little of B. He just nodded and turned back to Daryl. “We’re going. We can’t afford to waste any more time here. Maybe he doubled back.”

“He didn’t double back,” Daryl said forcefully. “I ain’t leaving ‘til we find ‘im. He’s here.”

Rick just shook his head and started walking down the steps. Daryl darted one last dirty look toward Thea and Mads before following him. The two men talked animatedly with each other but didn’t come back. Thea stayed outside long enough to see them meet up with the dark-skinned woman and begin to head back into the woods across the cul-de-sac before she got up and turned to walk inside.

<We’re just going to believe that they’re done with this place?> Mads followed her through the door. <Even if they don’t find him, there’s still plenty here that they could probably use for their camp, wherever they’re from.>

Thea locked the deadbolt noisily and headed back upstairs to her ward. “They’ll have to break down the door or a window if they come back tonight. He’s hurt and I want him out of here as soon as possible. I can’t do this anymore.”

Mads began to pant as they reached the top of the stairs. <You should never have agreed to hide him in the first place.>

“If he had been Toby and no one had helped him—” Thea began.

<He isn’t Toby, and plenty of people tried to help him. Things happen. You have to get over it.>

Thea felt hot with shame and didn’t say another word to her friend on the way to the closet. Negan must have tried stacking what he could up against where the entrance to the hidey hole would be before shutting himself in, because Thea had to shove aside more than a few boxes and empty luggage before she could get to the small hole in the wall where she could open it.

She grunted when she lifted the piece of the drywall away and met Negan’s dark eyes with her own. He looked ready to start swinging and when he realized it was only Thea, he broke out in an uncertain smile. “Well, doll, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

Thea nearly rolled her eyes before looking down at his chest. “You didn’t bleed all over my shit, did you?”

“I don’t know what shit you’ve got in this fucking shit-hole, but yeah. I probably bled all over it.” The corner of one side of his mouth turned up in a smirk and Thea fought a groan.

“Well, come on then,” she told him, putting her hand out to him. When he grabbed her forearm, she put all her weight into pulling back before he was ready for it, causing him to topple over on her stomach. She did groan then, more out of frustration than annoyance.

“Fuck! Ever hear ‘one, two, three, go’?” He sounded like the wound in his chest was painful. She could hear the smirk in his voice when he said, “Although, this is mighty fuckin’ comfy.” He moved an arm slowly up and it brushed Thea’s thigh. She swatted it away and pulled herself out from beneath him, causing his chest to slam on the floor. “Fuck! Easy on the merchandise.”

“You’ll be fine,” Thea grunted as she sat back up. She crawled to the entryway of the closet and stood, holding her arm out to him again. “One, two, three, go?”

Negan gave her a half-cocked smile and grabbed her forearm again. They were successful the second time around and Negan was now standing in front of her, his shoulder slightly hunched in where she had seen the blood. She moved toward him and grabbed his jacket, shoving it aside. “Damn, babe, no foreplay? I gotta tell ya, it’s a little unorthodox but I’m hella into it.”

“Oh, shut up and take off your shirt.” Thea saw him grin again and had the grace to look mortified. “I just want to check your wound.”

“As long as you’re okay telling yourself that,” he laughed. Damn, he had a great smile. Thea shook her head as he slowly shrugged off the leather jacket, taking care of his left shoulder, which seemed to be the source of the bleeding. The sooner she was sure that he could make it on his own, he was gone. She’d gotten away with lying and risking Mads’ life; she wasn’t going to make it a moot effort by having him die of infection before he got to where he needed to go.

<Oh, he’s handsome.>

“Shut up.” Thea glared at Mads.

Negan had the shirt halfway over his head, so he didn’t see that Thea wasn’t talking to him. He just gave a grizzly chuckle as he took the shirt completely off.

<I’d love to use my teeth on him,> Mads said suggestively. Thea felt her face burn as she wondered why the hell her wolf-dog was talking like that.

“Sit on the bed. I’ll get the first aid kit.” Thea’s words were clipped and robotic, and her movements were stiff as she turned to go to the adjoined bathroom. She didn’t see his face, but could imagine his suggestive smirk. She sent an icy look toward Mads, who didn’t notice and was sitting next to the bed where Negan sat. She was panting and her tail was thwomping on the floor behind her. _Traitor._

She returned with the kit and sat next to Negan, pushing Mads out of the way with her leg. <Hey, hey. Don’t get mad because I was about to get pets from him.>

Thea did her best to ignore her twitter-pated words and the thwomp of the tail on the floor; she tried to concentrate on wound care but as soon as she placed a hand on his broad shoulder, she became flush again. He really was built quite nicely.

To his credit, he didn’t once make a lewd comment. When Thea looked up him through her lashes as she cleaned the area, she noticed he wasn’t even looking at her. He was probably just some tough guy who did a lot of pretending and grandstanding. _Fake it ‘til you make it._ The words went through her mind again as she looked down at his shoulder.

“What got you?” she asked, attempting conversation to get his mind off of whatever pain he could be experiencing and to alleviate some of the awkward tension she felt all the way in her bones.

“Fucking arrow,” he nearly growled. Whether it was caused by the memory of being shot or the stinging of the alcohol she was using to wipe over the small hole in his chest, she didn’t know. But she immediately thought of the archer and shuddered.

<Well, I guess it’s a good thing he didn’t shoot at me,> Mads said, continuing to pant.

“Yeah,” Thea said. As soon as she saw the strange look Negan gave her, she regretted it. She quickly turned to grab some gauze from the kit beside her. “I don’t really know how to do this,” she admitted. She refused to meet his eyes when she covered and taped up the wound.

“There,” Thea said, getting up quickly and collecting her kit from the bed. Negan smiled and looked like he was about to thank her, but she didn’t let him get the words out. “When it gets dark, you should leave.”

<Damn, girl. That’s harsh.>

Thea left the room before she could hear or see his reaction. The sooner he was gone, the sooner she and Mads could back to being safe.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter this time, folks. I had been planning to at least get out a chapter every two days or so, especially during this month, but... life happens. :/ I'm currently traveling back and forth from my home in Bay County (we're the ones that got hit pretty bad by Hurricane Michael) and Largo further south. I'm working and staying with friends down south, but I still have to go up home to clean up the house and get ready to pack to move. It's a very tiring, very long, process. I'm going to update as much as I can, possibly with shorter chapters just so I can make my personal deadlines.  
> Thanks for bearing with me! Hope you enjoy it going forward!

When she saw Negan again, Thea was downstairs sitting in the old, flowery chaise lounge by the side window in the living room. It had been a good thirty minutes or more since she had left him sitting on the bed upstairs with Mads and she had half expected him to stay there. She wasn’t in the mood for any more human interaction for today. So, when she heard the tell-tale thud of his boots on the stairs as he came down to find her, it took a good amount of will power to not roll her eyes all the way into the back of her head.

Negan entered the living room and found her leaning against the windowsill. Her was head was leaning against her arm and her legs stretched out in front of her. She purposely ignored him and continued to look out of the window at absolutely nothing.

Mads padded over to her and plopped down gracelessly next to the chaise, lying on her side and letting out a dramatic sigh. <You shouldn’t ignore him. He didn’t necessarily do anything _wrong_. >

Thea wanted to quip back at that; wanted to remind Mads that she had wanted to leave him for dead if the group found him, but she heard Negan sit on the couch somewhere behind her and kept her mouth shut.

They sat like that for a while, each of them not saying a word and just enjoying the silence. Thea had almost let herself forget his presence and was feeling her lids droop when Negan finally spoke. “You know, sweetheart, I can’t quite seem to get a feel for you.” Thea sighed at that and her head fell into the windowpane softly, as if she’d rather bang her whole face through the glass than to have this conversation. Negan continued, “First, you agree to hide me in a fucking tiny ass hole in the wall, bandage me up all nice, then want to kick me out like I’ve got some fucking venereal disease.”

“I for sure didn’t help you out to have this conversation with you,” Thea said under her breath, loud enough that she was sure that Negan could hear it.

If she thought he would retaliate or even get up, she was wrong. His silence was unnerving, though, so she turned her head to look at him. She saw him looking down at his hand, flexing his right fist, and she could see the tick in his jaw where he had it clenched. The sight made her rethink her smartass remark; this was a large man who could absolutely take her out with the softest of hits.

Negan glanced up at her, saw Thea staring at him, and relaxed his fist. His eyes bore into her own, and Thea was surprised to notice that the stare wasn’t dangerous or made her uncomfortable. It was more of a lost look—one of frustration.

After a moment of thought, and a quiet urging from the animal below her, she turned her body completely to face Negan. She swung her legs around and put them on the ground next to Mads, who pointedly ignored the movement and stayed still.

“I’m sorry,” Thea said carefully, measuring her words. They were sour on her tongue and she had to push out the apology past her unwilling lips. “I don’t do people.”

His lips turned up slightly at that, so she continued. “Today has been the most interaction I’ve had with anyone in a very, very long time.” She licked her lips and glanced down at Mads. “I thought I was going to lose her,” she said, and she noticed the tick in Negan’s jaw start to pulse again.

“They came here and you met them,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

Thea nodded. “I almost ratted you out,” she admitted. She expected him to say something then, to maybe accuse her of still canoodling with his enemies; he remained silent as he waited for her to explain. “I figured the best way to survive with Mads was to keep you safe. I didn’t do it for any other reason other than selfish ones.”

She was surprised at herself for being so forthcoming with the truth behind her actions to a man she barely knew. It was more than survival instinct, she thought. Maybe she was starved for a little attention. Or, maybe she was trying to justify her own actions to herself, because she really did feel awful about even thinking of leaving this man behind. What he had done to the people hunting him to warrant their animosity had never really crossed her mind—she had no way to know that _they_ weren’t the “bad guys.” She just saw a man who needed help, and she gave it to him.

“I’m not a very good man,” Negan finally said. “You should have left me to them if you thought it would save yourself and the dog. But,” he continued, “I am very fuckin’ grateful that you didn’t. And I plan to repay you once I get home.”

“I didn’t do this to get something in return,” Thea muttered.

<See what he’s going to give us! Don’t just say ‘no’ without looking into it, you dumb girl.>

Thea glared down at the wolf-dog, but said nothing. She was honestly a little offended that the two of them were even talking about this.

“I didn’t say you did, sweetheart. But I’m going to get you some good fuckin’ shit whenever we get to my place.”

The subtle phrasing wasn’t lost on Thea. “Excuse me, ‘we’?” She slit her eyes a little as she looked at him, searching his face. He only gave her a wolfish grin in return.

“Here’s the thing,” he began.

“No. No, no, and no.” Thea put her palms out toward him and stood. Mads swung her head up to look at her and scrambled to her feet.

<We have a car,> Mads offered.

“No,” Thea said again, looking down at Mads. She turned her gaze back to Negan, who remained on the couch. “I told you I would hide you until those people passed by. I didn’t say anything about transporting you anywhere afterwards.”

“If you want to get payment for your help, you will.” Thea was about to argue again, but Negan cut her off. “And I plan on giving you a rad fucking ‘Thank you.’” His smile was wide now and she noticed that it didn’t quite reach his eyes. This wasn’t a request, but he was willing to give Thea the chance to take it as such.

She chewed her bottom lip and felt her face heat up in anger. She knew exactly what he was doing. “You are such a piece of shit.” She felt like she was really treading on the thinnest of ice here, but she was pissed. After she had gone what she felt like was out her way to help him, he was forcing her hand like this.

“I’ve been called much worse, believe me, sweetheart,” he said, all smiles.


	5. Chapter 5

Thea was quietly fuming upstairs as she made sure everything was packed in her go-bag. It was a small, army green backpack that she always kept on her person should she lose access to her vehicle for whatever reason while out scavenging. It contained all the pertinent items she’d need in a pinch: a spare knife, ammo, water bottle, a couple of stale granola bars. There was also a lock-picking kit that she had no idea how to use, but she had found it while on a food run and figured it wouldn’t hurt to carry around. Maybe she could poke someone’s eye out with it if she needed to.

Mads was lazing on the bed in front of her near the headboard. <Maybe we were a little hasty by letting him into the house,> she said. As if she wasn’t the one practically showing her belly to the man downstairs.

“Do you really want to start on that?” Thea asked, the words almost coming out as a growl as they made their way through her clenched teeth.

<I’m just saying, we wouldn’t have to leave the house if we hadn’t. I don’t want to go outside again.> She put her large head on her front paws. <All kinds of shit can go wrong out there.>

“We’ve been over this,” Thea said. “And the tune you were singing was a hell of a lot different half an hour ago.”

Before Mads could retort with more than an unhappy groan, they heard a knock on the door. Thea stiffened, pausing for only a moment before fastening her bag closed and slinging it on her back. When she turned to the door, Negan was standing in the hallway and looking at her like she was crazier than a soup sandwich.

“Making sure you weren’t hightailing it outta here,” he said carefully. When Thea didn’t speak and only met his scrutinizing eyes with her own smoldering glare, he continued. “Your elevator not go all the way to the penthouse?”

Slightly offended, Thea opened her mouth to respond; she thought twice and began to walk past him. Mads was hot on her heels, snickering. “We can leave as soon as it gets dark out. I don’t want anyone who might be lurking behind to see I’ve got a bag of dicks next to me in the car.”

“Ouch,” he followed behind her and had a smile on his lips. “She’s fuckin’ feisty, too. I bet you’re damn good in bed, sweetheart. The crazy ones always are.”

At that, Thea whirled on him and poked her finger in the center of his chest. She pushed hard, but he showed no signs of pain; he just looked a little more than irritated with his slight frown and downcast brows. “Listen here, fuckboy. I’m _not_ in the mood to made fun of. I’m about to leave my perfectly safe home to go on some escort mission for some fucker I don’t even like. So, save the _witty_ banter and let’s just go.”

At that moment, Negan’s gaze was venomous. His eyes were dark slits and she noticed his empty hand begin to clench again.

“If you’re going to hit me,” she said, making a motion toward his fist with her eyes, “I suggest you aim for the one hit K.O.; Mads can rip your throat out with the snap of my fingers.” Her own look was dangerous, the fire in her belly creeping up into them and making them glitter.

Mads took a step forward, sensing the tension, and let out a low growl. <I don’t want to, Thea,> she said to her friend. All the same, her hackles raised slightly, and her ears pointed forward toward Negan.

Negan reluctantly relaxed his hand. “You’re not going to get hit, missy, but you’re well on your way to pissing me the fuck off. I’m planning on giving you a fuckin’ smorgasbord of goodies when you deliver yours truly home, and you’re acting like I’m asking you to fuckin’ risk yourself for free.”

Thea remained silent and continued to glare at him.

“Hell, you can even stay if you find that you like what you see,” Negan said, a barely-there smirk beginning to show.

“I don’t think I will,” Thea said, removing her finger from his chest. 

“Don’t knock it ‘til you see it,” he said, giving her a full smile now. He really was giving her whiplash with these mood swings. It was giving her a headache.

“Let’s just go,” she said, sighing. “Mads, c’mon.” When she turned to go downstairs, the wolf-dog and Negan trailed behind her silently.

 

 

Shortly after sunset, Thea directed Negan through her kitchen and into the attached garage. It was nearly pitch-black, and she had to use a flashlight to see where she was going. She opened the back door for Mads. “Load up,” she said. She didn’t have to say the command, but it was a habit; Mads jumped immediately into the car as soon as the door was pulled opened.

<Alright! Let’s go kick some undead butt!>

Thea rolled her eyes and smiled at the wolf-dog. She may be a sassy Susan, but she really was just a dog when it came to car rides. Once they hit the pavement, she’d have to lower the window so she could stick her head out of it and enjoy the wind on her face.

“Go ahead and get in,” Thea said to the man standing behind her. They hadn’t really spoken in the time between their altercation upstairs and now. He had talked a little to a very appreciative Mads as he rubbed her exposed belly. It was disgusting.

Negan sauntered over to the passenger side and slid in as Thea walked to the garage door. She bent to lift it and pushed it over her head, wincing at the loud screeching noise it made. One of these days, she’d remember to look for some WD-40. Until then, she’d just go a little deafer every time she left with the car. And maybe attract some of the walking dead.

She hurried to the car, antsy that she couldn’t see anything in the dark past a few feet in front of her. She did the habitual check of the mirrors before she put her foot on the break and hit the start button. Negan let out a low whistle. “Fuckin’ fancy.”

Thea couldn’t help it; the dead be damned. She revved the engine and the catbacks roared and popped. She fought to hide a smile when Negan let out a “Hot damn!” This car was her baby—a pretty blue Subaru WRX. A few months ago, she’d managed to swipe town from an old garage close to the outskirts of the town closest to her and had been pleased as punch to hear that it sounded as sexy as it looked. The four-wheel drive was nice to have when the roads had fallen to such disrepair, too.

“Okay, get your ass down so no one sees you.”

Negan couldn’t help but give her a lascivious look as he lowered the seat down and leaned back. She didn’t dignify it with a worded response and only rolled her eyes. Once she was backed out of the garage, she hopped out and shut it. Then, they were off.

“Give it a minute and you can come back up for air,” she said, not looking at him. She lowered her back window for Mads. As predicted, the wolf-dog immediately shoved her head out of the window. Her grey and black fur flew wildly around, and her tongue lolled out of her mouth happily.

<Thank you!>

Thea smiled when she looked at her through the side mirror. When they were a few miles out of the cul-de-sac, she motioned for Negan to lift his seat back up. “So, where to?”

 

 

Negan had told her to plan to be on the road for a while, so she grabbed the large CD case that she kept behind the passenger seat. She flipped to the middle of the case and grabbed a random disc; without looking what it was, she popped it into the car’s CD player.

“We’re not gonna listen to some shitty chick music, are we?”

“Who knows,” she said nonchalantly. She really had no idea what CD she had picked, but she knew for sure that all the CDs in the case were decent. She’d spent a little too long in the local music shop picking out stuff to fill up the case with and none of them were “shitty chick music.”

He barked out a laugh. “It’s going to be a fucking long as hell road trip if I have to listen to fucking Alanis Morrisette.”

“I think you even knowing her name incriminates you of actually liking chick music.”

<He’s probably the type to listen to that old as dirt country music,> Mads said. She’d removed her head from the window a while ago and had laid down across the back seat. Her eyes met Thea’s in the rear-view mirror and Thea only smiled, careful not to say anything to her four-legged companion.

 

_I made my slow way home_  
_Limping on broken bones_  
 _Out of the thickest pine_  
 _Across the county lines_  
 _On to your wooden stairs_  
 _I know you can repair_  
 _I know you've seen the light_  
 _I know you'll get me right_

_Right_   
_Right_   
_Right_

_I own a sinner's heart_   
_I know the rain falls hard_   
_I know the currency_   
_I know the things you'll need_   
_I hope he hears my prayers_   
_I see you cut your hair_   
_I know the saving type_   
_I know you'll get me right_

 

They rode in silence as the song played, Thea drumming her fingers on the wheel and concentrating on the road in front of her. She thought of the band she’d played with a few times before the end of the world and felt a heaviness in her chest. She really did miss playing for an audience; missed being around that energy. Now that everything around her was dead or dying, that feeling of exhilaration on stage that had made her feel so alive seemed so far away now. She doubted she’d ever get to feel that way again.

“Better than chick music,” Negan said, breaking the silence.

Thea snorted. She turned to speak to him and noticed his fist on his thigh, which was again clenched. She frowned. “Why do you always do that?” She really was starting to worry about getting put six feet under as soon as she delivered him home.

Negan met her eyes, a questioning look in his own. She pointed at his fist, which made him look down. He must have not realized that he had been squeezing his hand because he immediately stopped and flattened it out against his leg. He was silent for a moment and Thea didn’t think he would respond to her at all; she shrugged and looked forward again, ready for more awkward silence, when he spoke.

“Those assholes took my girl from me when they attacked me and my men,” he explained. “She was fucking special.”

“They kidnapped someone?” Thea felt the beginnings of hot anger take the place of the lonely feeling in her chest.

<Or maybe he means that they killed her?> Thea swallowed hard. If those people were killers, she had been incredibly lucky that they didn’t find out she was hiding the man they were looking for in her upstairs closet.

Negan gave a grim smile. “My girl,” he said, “was a beautiful, bloodthirsty lady.” Thea suddenly regretted conversing with Negan, not for the first time. “She completed me.”

Thea turned her eyes back toward the road, feeling very uncomfortable. “Well, whatever floats yer boat…” Negan was silent, and she noticed his fist clench once more. She couldn’t help but feel the need to help him again—that same protectiveness that got her stuck in this shitty situation to begin with was beginning to work itself up into a tizzy and no matter how much she tried to shove it back down to the hole it came from, it threatened to take her over completely. She couldn’t help her self when she continued the conversation. “What’s her name?”

“Lucille,” he answered immediately, the word taking its time coming from his lips as if he were savoring it. “Turn right up here.” He pointed to a road sign a few yards in front of them.

As she continued to drive, she found herself at a loss for words.

<If I die,> Mads said, letting out a soft groan, <I’m haunting you for the rest of your life. I will open all your cabinets and stack all your chairs when you aren’t looking. For eternity.>

Thea squeezed the steering wheel with both hands and she swallowed thickly. Why did she always get herself into these situations? Why did she feel the need to insert herself in other peoples’ problems?

<He’d better have some sweet treasure for us to pay us back.>

Thea agreed silently. No matter how much she wanted to help, this ride was it. As soon as they got whatever payment Negan was going to give them, they were speeding away into the sunset back home.

The ride was close to silent once more, only the purr of the catbacks and music sounding out in the otherwise quiet night.

Mads suddenly sat up on her haunches, looking at Thea through the rear-view. <Do you think he’ll have Milk-bones?>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took far too long to write.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a lot longer than normal to update this, but I had to really think how I wanted this chapter to go since I couldn't really see it clearly in my head. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. :) Hope you guys think the same!

Thea had to change the disc three times before they eventually made it to the outskirts of where Negan was directing her. Any talking between the two had remained very minimal; Thea was a bit trepidatious to continue the previous conversation and Negan seemed fine with remaining lost in thought as they continued to drive down the dark roads. The only one who couldn’t seem to keep her mouth shut was Mads; several times the wolf-dog had Thea glaring at her through the rear view and thankful that no one else could hear her musings.

At one point, Mads had hefted her large head onto Negan’s shoulder and snuffled his neck. The man had chuckled, scratched her chin, and Mads sat back down in her seat. For someone who was normally so skittish around people, the canine sure was putting it on thick for the man in the passenger seat. Mads knew it bothered Thea, too, which made her open her mouth in a feral grin.

“This is the turn here,” Negan said, pointing toward a side road on the right-hand side of the vehicle. “It’s just down this stretch a bit.”

<I’m going to miss Man Meat,> Mads said, tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. <He gives some good scritches. Wonder if he’ll give me a goodbye belly rub.>

Thea let out a huff of air. She was worrying herself by wondering if Negan was truly being honest about giving her some supplies as a “thank you” and letting her continue on her merry way. After all, she knew where his base was located now, and a lot of survivors nowadays were hella secretive about where they lay their heads down at night.

Mads seemed to sense the cloud of dread around Thea and closed her jaws, smiling no longer. <I’m sure we’ll be fine.>

How? How was she sure? After changing her mind back and forth about Negan so many times, now she was confident in his trustworthiness?

Mads blinked slowly at Thea through the mirror. <We don’t know what caused the two groups of people to go after one another. But I think he knows that we aren’t involved with them, and we’ve gone so far as to house him while they were out looking for him.> She turned her golden gaze to stare out of the window and at the thick wall of passing trees. <We’re already involved, so we may as well try to remain hopeful that there are still good people out here.>

Thea mulled that over as she bit her lip and turned down the road that Negan had indicated. The road was in such poor condition that she figured it hadn’t been well maintained even before the dead began to walk. She groaned as the car dipped into a pot hole and she heard the undercarriage scrape the asphalt.

“There,” Negan said. They began to pull up to a small, grey building with a large satellite dish on the roof. The outside was surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire wrapped everywhere that it could possibly go. There wasn’t much else to the defenses; Thea felt that the place was extremely exposed, and it made her uncomfortable.

“It doesn’t look very secure,” Thea said, incredulously. “You live here?” As soon as she asked, she berated herself for asking for any information regarding his residence.

“What, in this shit hole? No fuckin’ way, sweetheart.” He grinned. “This is just a baby base. But I’ll be able to make it the rest of the way home from here.”

Thea made a noise in her throat to acknowledge the statement but was careful to keep her mouth shut. She didn’t want to push herself into anymore accidental conversation; the sooner this was over and done with, the sooner she could get back to her quiet cul-de-sac and mind her own business.

Negan seemed to think her noncommittal noise meant something else. “I mean, I’d fuckin’ be over the moon to have you drive me there. I could give you the grand fuckin’ tour and you could stay as long as you want.” Another grin. “Shit, I’d even let you bunk with me so you’d be warm at night.”

“No, thank you,” Thea said, almost too quickly. Negan laughed and slapped his thigh as they pulled to a stop in front of the building. As soon as Thea put the car in park, two men had exited the front door of the building and had their automatic guns pointed at it.

<Where the hell did they come from?> Mads asked, squeezing herself onto the center console with her front paws.

Thea kept her hand on the shift knob and her foot remained firmly placed on the brake. Her mind was trying to tell herself to calm down and think of what Mads had said earlier, but her body was readying for a quick getaway.

When Negan stepped out of the car, it was like he had become someone new. Thea was aware of how arrogant and hotheaded he seemed to be but as he swaggered to the gate and the men lowered their weapons to kneel on one knee, she thought to herself that she had no idea who this man was.

<Are they serious with this crap?>

“Guess so… Should we get out?” Thea muttered under her breath to her companion beside her.

Mads whined and began to pant. <Let’s give it a minute.> As soon as Thea lowered the volume of the music so they could try to eavesdrop on the conversation, Negan turned from the now-standing men and crooked his finger at her. She braced herself mentally and made sure to grab her bag from the backseat, slinging it on her back as soon as she exited the car.

<Here we go!> Mads jumped out behind her and waltzed beside her cautiously, matching her almost step for step. She panted, but otherwise didn’t show her nervousness. Now, this was the animal that Thea knew; she knew Mads was keeping close watch around them now and trusted her to be ready for the attack should the occasion arise. It comforted her to have the large beast by her side now that she knew she was a little more serious about the situation.

Thea reached Negan in a few short steps and looked at the men in front of him. She nodded a greeting, still careful not to engage more than she had to.

“Good to meet ya,” a tall, lean man with a thick mustache said. The facial hair was pretty impressive, and she could tell he took proper care of it. She briefly wondered how hard it was to come by face grooming supplies now.

“Simon, show this lady to whatever fuckin’ supplies we have here and let her have the pick of the litter,” Negan said.

Before Simon could even nod in acquiescence, the young man beside him spoke up. “We don’t have a lot here, sir. I don’t think—”

This was apparently the worst thing to say, because Negan suddenly got very heated. “Do I keep you around to fuckin’ think?” The young man, who couldn’t have been more than twenty or so, realized his mistake and his eyes began to widen in fear. He looked scared shitless, which made Thea tense and become much more wary of the man next to her. She subtly leaned away from him.

“Negan, if there’s not a lot here, I don’t need—”

Negan ignored her and continued to address the man in front of him. “You’re lucky Lucille is on a goddamn vacation right now, or you wouldn’t have a fuckin’ head to try to think with.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean—”

“Trey,” Simon interrupted. “Stop while you’re behind, son. Go get the supplies together so our guest can take a gander.”

The young man named Trey nodded while taking a deep breath before turning quickly on his heels to march inside the building. Thea felt bad for him, watching his slumped form and awkward gait as he hurried inside.

<Can we get this over with?> Mads was standing very close to Thea and right behind her, looking at the interaction from around her legs.

“He’s got a lot to learn, but I think he’s an okay kid,” Simon said to Negan, smoothing out his facial hair with his hand.

“Negan,” Thea said, turning her head to look him in the eyes. “If you really don’t have a lot here, I don’t _need_ to take anything. But I would like some water, if you have it.” Water was always a hot commodity since there were two of them at the house drinking it; Mads drank like someone who had been stranded in a desert.

“Fuck that,” Negan said. “You saved my ass. I promised you a fuckin’ smorgasbord, and you’re getting a goddamn smorgasbord.”

<His vocabulary is quite a bit lacking,> Mads said shortly.

“This way, lady,” Simon beckoned Thea to follow him into the building and she hesitated.

<Do we still trust this?> Mads asked, shifting her gaze between the two men in front of her. Her tail swished from side to side very slowly.

_I don’t think he’ll let us leave without taking something in return for what we did,_ Thea thought to herself. _And, we really do need all the supplies we can milk out of this._ She nodded slightly and began to follow the men inside. Whether this was the end of Thea and Mads, she didn’t know. She was hoping not, but she felt a bit safer knowing Mads would be a hell of an obstacle for anyone to try to barge through if they wanted to get to her.

The building began with a small room that clearly used to be an office; it still had the front desk and old computer sitting atop it. It wasn’t immaculate, but it had definitely been kept clean by the inhabitants of the base. She wondered if this was an ex-military outfit.

They continued down a short hall and into another small room two doors down on the right. It had a couple of foldable tables in the middle and boxes around the walls; Thea assumed this was the supply room. The tables were close to bare, with mostly water and some food items on it. It had clearly been a hot minute since the last time someone went scavenging. Then again, this base was almost in the middle of nowhere, so she supposed it was difficult to just go out every few days like she and Mads did since they were lucky enough to live near a small town.

Negan slapped her back and she lurched forward from the impact. “Take your pick.”

<Not much to pick,> Mads muttered. She stepped next to Negan and nudged his hand lightly with her snout. She enjoyed a quick scratch behind the ears before she began to pace around the room, nose to the ground.

Thea looked at Simon, who shrugged and stepped to the side. There really wasn’t much here and she felt some kind of way about taking from people when all she did was hide a man in her closet. “How many people are staying here?”

“Don’t worry about it,” came Negan’s quick reply. His eyes were narrowed slightly, but he was careful to still give her a small, cocky smile. His face made it seem like he was just being generous, but Thea knew she had stepped a little too far into “nosy” territory. She swallowed and took her bag off her back, opening it and shoving a few bottles of water and foodstuffs into it. She managed to make herself grab some basic first aid supplies without feeling too guilty.

Thea was finishing up and closing the bag when she noticed Negan nod toward Simon. Thea froze for a moment, the tense feeling creeping its way back into her body. It made her limbs feel heavy and her head a little fuzzy with worry. Mads took note of the sudden change in Thea’s demeanor and padded over to stand beside her just as Simon took a gun from the back of his waistband. As soon as Mads saw the pistol, she began to draw her lips back into a quiet snarl.

<Get behind me, Thea.>

But as Thea took a step back, clutching her bag to her chest, Simon put his hands up and palms out. “Take it easy, lady,” he said, carefully measuring his words as he took a quick glance down at the wolf-dog.

“I want you to take the gun,” Negan told her.

“I don’t need a gun. Too loud,” Thea said, holding her breath. She wasn’t moving toward the men with that gun out.

“You don’t have to use it,” Negan said. “But it’s got a symbol carved into the side of it. It means you’re one of us.”

“I’m _not_ one of you,” Thea spat. “I don’t want anything else to do with _any_ group of people for a long time after this.”

“I want you to fucking take the gun, Thea,” Negan said, this time more firmly. “If you get caught in a cross-fire or need help, you show that pistol to any of my men and they’ll know to bring you to me.”

Thea shook her head. She didn’t want to owe anyone anything; the supplies were one thing, since it was a way of making Negan feel like he even with her. If she took the gun as a backup, she’d owe Negan again.

“Thea,” Negan said, squinting his eyes at her and stepping forward. “This offer won’t be on the table after today. I’m offering you help if you need it going forward. If you don’t fucking take it, you’re shit out of luck.”

Thea realized something then. Though his fists were clenched again, and his body language made him seem irritated with her, there was an almost pleading look in his dark eyes. She flicked her gaze to Simon, who looked curiously between the two of them. He was smarter than Trey, though, and kept his mouth shut.

<He’s worried those people will come back looking for him again. What if they do? A gun could help. And if we need to, we can turn tail and seek refuge here.>

Thea bit her lip and she was sure that the wheels in her head spun faster than they ever had before. <Thea, it won’t be a bad idea to take the thing. It doesn’t mean we’ll owe him; I think he may be genuinely worried about us.> Mads had lowered her lip and was sniffing the air, taking in everything she could. Thea wished she could smell out chemicals and feelings like the wolf-dog could; it sure would make things a lot easier for her.

“Okay,” Thea said finally. “But this doesn’t mean I owe you again. If it’s inconvenient for me and Mads, or it puts us in danger, we won’t help you next time.” She looked Negan dead in the eyes and pointed a finger toward him as she said that. She remembered Trey and felt like she was treading thin ice by being so forward, but she was surprised at his reaction.

He gave her a smirk that told her he seemed to think otherwise about her declaration. “Of course not, sweetheart.”

Thea stepped back around Mads and accepted the gun gingerly from Simon, holding it between her thumb and forefinger. Simon scoffed. “Have you never held a gun before?”

Thea looked up at him with wide eyes and he sighed. He quickly showed her the safety, explained how to load it, and how to hold it as she fired. Negan regarded them quietly, a hand on his chin as he rubbed his stubble.

<I hope we never have to use that thing,> Mads said, lifting her head to smell it. <It smells dreadful.>

Once the gun to placed carefully into her bag, she strapped it over her shoulders and turned to Negan. “I’d like to go now.”

“Of fucking course,” he smiled. He slapped an arm around her shoulder and walked her out of the building the way they’d come through. She felt her face heat up; while she wasn’t too keen on his personality, he _was_ an attractive man. She berated herself for thinking slightly impure thoughts about his nice arms and as soon as they got to the car, she shook herself free of his hold.

<You hussy,> Mads said, a laughing lilt in her voice. Thea blushed again.

“Thanks for the ride, doll,” Negan said, ignorant of the wolf-dog’s teasing. He grinned and leaned against the car’s roof. “Maybe next time you can stay a little longer.”

“There won’t be a ‘next time,’” Thea said, looking away from him as she fished her keys out of her pocket. She unlocked the door and moved to open it, but Negan was in the way. “Do you mind?”

Negan let out a low hum and regarded her with cool eyes before slapping the roof of the car and pushing himself off. “See ya around, Thea,” he said, swaggering away toward the building.

“No, you won’t!” she called after him, but he just waved his hand in the air and sauntered inside.

 


End file.
